


Rats in the Walls

by demonladys



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, One Shot, sorta fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:28:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21979582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonladys/pseuds/demonladys
Summary: Hubert and Ferdinand get a rare day off from work, much to Hubert's chagrin.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Kudos: 47





	Rats in the Walls

**Author's Note:**

> impromptu ferdibert one shot! hubert and ferdinand going on a convoluted date to the opera. this is my first foray into fe3h fic and my first foray into m/m fics in general. apologies if the characterization is off or the prose is stiff.

Hubert stood stern behind the Mittelfrank Opera House, adjusting his collar as midday's light gleamed into his eyes. He rarely got days off like this. Not that he minded -- he’d much rather spend his time serving within the palace walls or plotting away in a dungeon, coming up with new methods to dispose of threats to the empire’s peace. Yeah, maybe he was a bit of a workaholic. But his duties were demanding, and he wouldn’t rest until he was certain Lady Edelgard could retire in peace.

Today, though, his assigned task was ‘mandatory vacation.’ He had protested, of course, but her majesty had the final word. “Hubert, you’ve worked non-stop for the past month. Surely you can give yourself just one day to rest? Must I resort to using my authority to grant you this?” Suffice to say, the emperor had grown soft-hearted with her wife, their former professor, at her side. It was unlike her to worry this much for him, she’d never behaved this way before her time at the academy. He feared such a change might turn his master into a sentimental figurehead incapable of leading, and yet thanks to Lady Eisner, she was stronger than ever. Perhaps even his own cold heart had been thawed some.

“Hubert! It’s been too long!” Ferdinand's bolstered smile beneath long flowing locks came rushing toward him. He wore a white button-up tunic, his sleeves ran with gentle winds as he waved in Hubert’s direction.

Hubert smirked. "Did we not dine together yesterday evening?"

"Yes, but I much prefer the mornings when I wake up by your side!"

Hubert couldn't help the flame in his heart at the sound of those words. He thought he'd grown used to this imbecile's charm, but his own scarlet face told a different story. 

“Anyhow, it’s quite fortunate for our vacation days to align as they have, wouldn’t you agree?”

He placed his hand over his chin, eyes narrowed. “Hm. Fortunate, yes.” It was no mere coincidence, he was well aware. It seemed Lady Eisner had pulled a few strings to ensure he'd be spending his day off with his fiancé. How inconsiderate, to not even ask if he might prefer a relaxing day of solitude. How meddlesome. How completely tactless. No matter, he’ll just have to show her the folly of her actions by turning this into a day of work for both of them.

“And that you were able to procure tickets for today’s showing? I dare say that sounds miraculous!”

“Heh. That certainly does sound miraculous. Perhaps because it’s not true.”

The cheer on Ferdinand’s face shifted gradually into confusion, the ends of his lips dropping out of their smile. “Excuse me? I mean, I do not mind spending the day doing something else. But in that case I must ask, why did you invite me to the opera house.”

Hubert let out devious laughter. As he had hoped, Ferdinand was clueless.

“Oh no. I know where this is going.” Ferdinand leaned in, his hands firm on his waist. “You have some sort of scheme prepared.”

“Heheh… Precisely.”

Ferdinand sighed, burying his forehead into his palm. By now he seemed downright dejected. “Okay, fine. Let’s get this over with. Just tell me who our target is and I’ll have their meal poisoned.”

“You misunderstand, _prime minister_ ,” Hubert hissed playfully, chuckling. “No, today’s plot is much more innocent. We WILL be attending the opera as you wished. However, we shall be taking the commoner’s entrance.”

Ferdinand tilted his head, distorted. “The... commoner’s entrance?”

“Do you see that?” Hubert pointed up the opera house’s back wall, somewhere around three stories above the street. There was a small hole in the otherwise stable wooden exterior, leaving a crawlspace just barely large enough for an adult to squeeze through. “There’s a wooden plank on the rooftop of the building behind us. Historically speaking, legitimate access to the opera house has been exclusive to audiences of nobility. However, commonfolk know when to abandon dignity and become rats in the walls.”

Finger over his lip, Ferdinand stood in thought for a minute. He peered at the hole, his eyes gravitating on the gap between the two structures. “Ah, now I see! So they would sneak in through the crevices of the building undetected and watch the opera from there? Very clever! But now that the divide between commoner and noble has begun to erode, should we not simply invest resources into repairing the opera house’s infrastructure?”

He shook his head. “The building’s owners have tried to block these openings off, but their efforts always prove fruitless. Though we have made great strides toward crushing the class system, its impact still lingers. As things are now, those who were once called commoners still lack the financial access to enjoy these sorts of luxuries.”

“Hmm,” Ferdinand crossed his arms and glanced between the opera house’s backside and the neighboring rooftop. It seemed as if he had solved a puzzle he had created for himself. His shining smile returned. “Are you suggesting that as former noblemen ourselves, emulating the experience would help us better understand the plight of those in need? That’s brilliant, Hubert! Very well, we shall take the commoner’s route into the theatre!”

He figured Ferdinand would come to some sort of conclusion like this, but if anything, he wanted to scout for possible routes of entrance in case an assassin were to attack the auditorium. He smirked once more, endeared by his lover’s ever-shining optimism. “Well, yes. Though as I said before, I do not have tickets, so this _is_ our only option.” Clever as he was, turning his day off into a different kind of work was more of a convenient bonus than it was his true intention.

* * *

Nearly atop the steel ladder with Ferdinand ahead of him, Hubert’s resolve began to waver and discomfort set in, sweat dripped down his forehead. He had accounted for this, of course -- it was not as if he had forgotten his own uneasiness toward heights. But he was hoping it wouldn’t kick in so soon. His stomach began to churn, but he walked forward across the rooftop without too much trouble. That is, until he had to cross to the next one using a flimsy wooden board. Ferdinand tip-toed carefully onward. Hubert started to follow behind, but his legs wobbled and he could feel the plank shaking beneath. The distance between two rooftops turned out to be more than he had bargained for.

Ferdinand turned around, his eyes met Hubert’s. He must’ve caught wind of Hubert’s agitation, as he reached out and offered his hand. “Come, love. I know you struggle keeping sturdy at this altitude.”

Hubert responded with an irritated grunt, though stubbornly accepted his offer. Finally past the first plank, he took a moment to scan the remaining course. Two more buildings, then the hardest part: fitting the plank across to the opening in the opera house’s wall and squeezing inside such a narrow space. Thankfully the first obstacles weren’t too difficult as he kept balanced while holding onto his lover’s hand. Ferdinand had a certain finesse to his movements, which probably came along with the years of dance practice he often boasted of. The worst was when it seemed like the third makeshift bridge began to dip in the center, barely able to withstand their combined weight.

They reached the last rooftop, opera house’s back wall right across the gap. Carefully, they lifted up a lengthy wooden board resting on the roof’s floor, just wide enough to be a walkway and conveniently a little longer than they needed to reach the secret passage. Ferdinand took the lead, angling it into the crawlspace about fifteen meters away while Hubert held onto the back and ensured it didn’t fall off the roof’s ledge. It slotted into the dark crawlspace as well as they could manage it, though there wasn’t much room to navigate on the other side. They both stood scratching their heads for about a minute, Hubert tried to analyze every possible angle to approach this.

“I must say, this is terrifying. Isn’t there any rope or stone to keep it in place?”

“Unfortunately not. It looks like one of us will need to hold it down while the other crosses.” Though Hubert’s spine shivered, he couldn’t help but laugh about it. “I’m impressed. One must truly place all of their trust in another if they wish to make it inside unscathed.”

“If traversing this perilous walkway was the only way commoners could enjoy the opera’s splendor, I can see why Dorothea must have scorned the nobility so much.” He grabbed onto the back end of the bridge and pushed his hands down onto it, keeping it held just between himself and the ledge. “Hubert, you go first. It’ll be safer if I can keep it down from this side.”

“Very well,” Hubert nodded before hopping onto the plank. Careful, careful, one foot ahead of the other. Careful. He treaded along with deep breaths, swinging each leg ahead with cautious precision. Like dancing on a tightrope. Halfway across, he made the mistake of focusing his eyes not on the wooden board beneath his feet but on the street several stories below. Suddenly he felt nauseous, his balance began to slip. He shut his eyes tight and stood as still as he could, trying to clear his head of thoughts about splatting against concrete or breaking all his bones. Instead he thought about mornings spent holding Ferdinand in his arms before he’d go to fetch them both a cup of coffee. Even now, his beloved was using all his strength to support the both of them. He opened his eyes and realized he had neared the end of the narrow path. He crouched down, made himself as small as possible, and entered inside.

The hole led to a narrow space beyond anywhere humans were actually meant to fit through. There was barely any room to move his head, but thankfully the rafters were sturdy enough to calm his height-related nerves. Squished against the sorry excuse for a floor, he struggled to reposition his whole body backwards. He peeked outside and held his torso down against the plank, waving his arm to give Ferdinand the signal to cross. He was certain the bridge began to wobble under his gut, but somehow Ferdinand had caught up in no time, completely unharmed. He backed up to make room, and Ferdinand crawled in behind him. 

Quiet as mice, they crawled onward across the grand hall’s hidden interior. Through the darkness inside walls and ceilings, they slithered. Guided by an orchestra and a woman’s voice singing notes higher than a pegasus could fly, Hubert crept onward with Ferdinand in tow. And as the sound of song grew louder, they emerged into the upper rafters of the auditorium.

Hubert leaned against a support beam and gazed at the stage. Men and women danced elegantly to a ballad of war and desperation, armed with prop blades and costume armor. The lofty view was something to appreciate, and the fact that up here they weren’t surrounded by insufferable ex-nobles. Ferdinand stretched and squirmed, his arm resting around Hubert’s shoulder. This was… nice? Yeah. This was nice.

“Not exactly the most comfortable seats in the house.”

Hubert laughed. “Do you plan to complain for the entire show?”

“Not at all, love! I’m amazed that we’re even here right now. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!” Ferdinand’s smile must’ve lit the whole theatre. It radiated something powerful, something only Hubert could know. Comfort.

After a successful day of scouting out assassination routes and teaching his fiancé some sort of valuable life lesson, Hubert was cornered -- he couldn’t deny he craved this rest. For now, he wanted nothing more than to stay close like this and share the view, share the moment. As Ferdinand’s eyes lit up at the start of every song, as he cheered about how incredible the choreography was and how talented the singer, Hubert’s gaze was transfixed solely on him. And for this one day off, he enjoyed every moment of it.


End file.
